Donna Philosophica
Donna Philosophica is a leading astrologer, life coach, and educator in Austin, Texas. Her brand architecture was developed as a throw-back to Aubrey Beardsley and a nod to the esoteric mystic arts.
The Outcome
The Challenge
My client relationship with Donna was serendipitous. I needed astrology, she needed branding. Thats right kids, I’m occasionally open to trades.
Donna was gearing up to launch her new website, donnaphilosophica.com, along with a series of monthly astrology salons. Her first dip into branding didn’t quite nail the whimsy and mystique that embodied her brand.
The Role:
I developed the basic brand architecture which included her social media banners, business cards, webpage banners, and a database of branded assets and guidelines that would be followed to execute across multiple mediums.
I rendered the illustrations and established the branding and key messaging.
With over 4K followers, Donna Philisophica’s Esoteric Salon has become a hub for Austin’s local astrologers, witches, and occultists. Donna fills her days with private coaching, readings and teaches at the University. Donna is a thought-leader in the field of astrology and is one of the nation’s foremost astrologers. Her branding plays a key role in her name association and I’m honored for the opportunity to support her success.
The Process
Interview:
Every new client is interviewed in-depth to identify the company's core values, project requirements, and specifications. It became clear that Donna’s brand would be enchanting and evocative. Her affinity for esoteric studies would lend to the aesthetics hallmarked in the dawning Renaissance of the early 1900’s.
She loved the idea that astrology helps one honor their own nature and discover their genius. She used words like “esoteric”, “orient”, and “Victorian”.
Defining the Specs:
The specs were simple: develop a set of branded assets that could be replicated by other production artists and integrated into web, print, and social. Donna specifically requested explorations of a wax seal and aged letter.
Research:
I pitched three concepts to Donna, the first of which strongly borrowed from the great 1900s artist, Aubrey Beardsley. The concept was first presented with Alibaba, from the cover of “The Book of 40 Thieves.” Donna fell in love.
The Design Process:
I began with the first rendering in pencil and placed it within a typographic treatment. I alluded that the design would feature lots of color blocking in “smoke” that would rise from the lamp, like a genius. The lamp would become Donna’s logo glyph. This concept would support both reversed and solid image treatments and provide flexibility to designers who needed either black or white backgrounds.
We added the crescent moon over the Djinn’s head and extended the lamp to the wax seal. Her signature was later incorporated and hand rendered along with the illustration.
We finalized the compositions with an overlay of textural vintage paper to invoke a classic “old-world” vibe. In the end, Donna was simply thrilled and referred several other colleagues to my services.